Wanderer's Pen: October 2015

Saturday, October 31, 2015

Monthly Summary: October 2015

Life picked up this month with several highlight events and with writing. Fall has finally come and the weather is cool and the leaves are ablaze. I'm so happy to be able to wear jeans and jackets again--and all of my Fall shows are back. Yesssssss! It puts me in the the writing moods! I also did a little redesigning and after a few HTML scares I've gotten everything working.

What I did:

1.) I finished extending Red Hood! Woo hoo! :D Now the book will be 100K. Now I just have to edit it and off it goes to another publisher! I also got some promising news from another publisher for the book. *crosses fingers*

Happiness!

2.) In the outside world, I had a great time at the Georgia National Fair with some of my friends and at Cagle's Family Farm with my Kung Fu group! Lots of rides and corn mazes and fair food and hayrides and various farm animals galore!

On the Wild Mouse ride at the Georgia National Fair.

In the corn maze at Cagle Family Farm.

Update: My casual Doctor Who cosplay from Halloween complete with sonic screwdriver and Dalek gloves.

3.) I finished read both the Revised Life of Ellie Sweet by Stephanie Morrill and Blur by Steven James. Reviews coming!

4.) I finished drawing my characters Brian and Harlowe doing different expressions for my Expressions Challenge I gave myself this year. ^ ^

Harlowe from Starbloods

Brian from Subsapien

5.) On Geeks Under Grace, I reviewed Pan, Cognition: An Erica Reed Thriller - Episode 2: The Wise Monkey, and Cognition: An Erica Reed Thriller - Episode 3: The Oracle. Also I just found out about this but I also guest posted on New Authors Fellowship about keeping organized!

The Geeky Department:

1.) I'm watching the Flash and Arrow. So glad to be seeing my two favorite TV show superheroes again.

Barry being epic.

2.) Castle. So much Castle. Caskett forever!

I love this man.

3.) I watched Black Bullet. Good anime. Excessive swearing. -_-

Enju and Rintaro as so cute.

4.) Once Upon a Time! EMMA, COME BACK TO US!

Can we have this Emma back? Pleeeeease?

5.) I'm liking the new season of Doctor Who a lot better than the last, but still getting used to Sonic Sunglasses ...

Still getting used to them ...

What I Learned:

1.) Brainstorming is great, but brainstorming out loud has improved my brainstorming drastically. Cassia and I have been doing it a lot over webcam (She lives in Canada) and we plotted both of our books that way and got them done in about a week! Talking out your ideas helps so much. Any time we've gotten stuck we've cammed and talked out our problem and gotten it solved the same day.

2.) Rejections get easier somewhat. I got yet another one. This one I got over in a day. Yay progress of recovery. XD I'm up to seven now that I've ever gotten.

3.) One gets so much more excited for Nano when they know someone is doing it with them. Last year I did NaNo alone and it was a struggle, but with warring with Cassia so much this month I know next month will be way funner than last year. I can get about a thousand words written in just three ten minute word wars. This has gotten me so ecstatic for NaNo!

4.) At the Georgia National Fair, I went to a Blacksmith's demonstration and I learned a lot! Beeswax was used to keep metal from rusting. People used to have portable forges which were on a wagon. I learned about gray metal and cold metal and all that which is the different hardness of metals depending on temperature and how to get them there. It was so cool!

5.) I ate a honeycomb and it was good. I've wanted to try one for a while and I finally bought a jar of honey with the comb in it at the fair. It's basically like eating chewy honey. You can eat the wax as well. This could be handy for stories set historically or on a farm. I heard about eating a honeycomb from my step Grandmother who lived near an apiary and I wanted to try one since.

Image not mine.

What I'm Going to Do:

1.) Next month, I'm doing NaNoWriMo! I'm so pumped because I'm doing it with one of my writing buddies, Cassia. ^ ^

2.) I'm going down to a friend's house for a few days to see Mockingjay Part 2 with her! So excited! Also there's Thanksgiving. FOOD! And lastly I'm seeing a DaVinci invention exhibition! Book research!

3.) I'm going to finish Me, Just Different by Stephanie Morrill and Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas.

4.) I'm going to try to draw expressions challenges for: Ingrid, Caleb, and Ashlyn.

Isn't Ashlyn a cutie?

5.) And I want to do more reviews for Geeks Under Grace, particularly one of the Mockingjay Part 2, Peanuts, and The Silver Lining.

Last Month on Stori Tori's Blog ...

This month's words:
Wonderful Word Wednesday: Hierogram
Wonderful Word Wednesdays: Accouterment
Wonderful Word Wednesdays: Inviolable

This month's teas:
Tea Tuesday: Wild Strawberry Cold Brew
Tea Tuesday: Wash
Tea Tuesday: Kaylee

This month's tunes:
Soundtrack Sundays: The Adventure Begins (King's Quest: A Knight to Remember)
Soundtrack Sundays: Murmurs of Love and Death (Pan)
Soundtrack Sundays: Danny (Broadchurch)
Soundtrack Sundays: Crisis (Black Bullet)

Writing Stuff:
Questions for Sting!
How Participating in Other Blogs' Activities Can Drastically Improve Your Blog
A Book Review of Failstate: Legends by John W. Otte
Beautiful Books: Introduce Your Novel - Subsapien: Hybrid
Writing Lessons from Movies: Mulan
Interview with Sting (Subsapien) 2
So Your Character is Homeschooled ...

Other Stuff:
The Get to Know Me Tag!

Coming Soon to Stori Tori's Blog ...

Next month's teas are one Avengers tea and the rest Hunger Games teas!

November 6 - Questions for Nox - A call for questions for one of my main characters of the third book of my science fiction series! The interview will follow on the 20th.

November 7 - How Can characters Be Powerful if They're Not Real? - Someone needs to make a post about this so I am. Characters are so amazing and I hate it when people diss them for this reason.

November 13- Beautiful Books - Where I will spiel more about my NaNo novel.

November 14 - Book Review (Failstate: Nemesis) - A book review of one of the best books I've read this year.

November 21 - Writing Lessons from Movies: The Hunger Games - In honor of the last Hunger Games film coming out next month I'm doing a post on how fantastically written the Hunger Games series is.

November 27 - Sweater Weather Tag & Liebster Award (for the third time!)

This was a really fun month and I can't wait for next month! So much exciting stuff happening! I hope you all have a happy fall, a happy Halloween, and a happy NaNo!

How was your month? What did you do? Are you looking forward to any of the upcoming posts? Do you like any of these shows? Did you know this stuff about blacksmithing? Are you doing NaNoWriMo? What do you think of the new design?

You may also like:

Monthly Summary: September 2015

Monthly Summary: August 2015

Monthly Summary: July 2015

Monthly Summary: June 2015

Monthly Summary: May 2015

If you liked this post, come back every Saturday for more writing advice, character interviews, book reviews and more! On Sundays I have Soundtrack Sundays where I post a new score piece, Tuesdays are Tea Tuesdays with tea reviews, Wednesdays I have Wonderful Word Wednesdays where I post a new vocabulary word, and Fridays are Fan Fridays where I post tags and other goodies. To help support my dream to be an author follow this blog, like me on Facebook, watch me on deviantART, and follow me on Pinterest and Twitter. If you want to know more about my books check out them out here. Thank you! :)

Friday, October 30, 2015

The D.A.Y. and N.I.G.H.T Reading Tag

Sara Letourneau a.k.a. my fellow fantasy and tea loving buddy had this tag open for anyone over on her blog and I haven't done a reading tag yet. It's about time! The D.A.Y. and N.I.G.H.T. Reading Tag asks bloggers questions about their reading habits and overall love of books. If you pay attention to the first letter of each question, you’ll find that it spells a word or two (or three) from the tag’s title. Thanks, Sara, for having it as an open tag. ^ ^ And don't forget to check out her blog!

Let's hop to it!

Do you read more in the morning or at night?

I usually end up reading books in the afternoon for some reason.

Are there any books that changed the way you thought about things?

Oh yes. Lots. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins totally changed my perspective on trauma. I hadn't thought about what trauma mentally does to a person until I read it. Singularity by Steven James made me think more about how and why God allowed free will when he created the world. Raising Dragons by Bryan Davis totally changed my perspective on dragons. I had always viewed them as villainous before.

YA or not?

Totally YA. I mostly read a lot of YA since that's what I write and I like to read up on what's going on in the market--plus they're good books. I read some adult books, but mostly YA.

Are there any characters you honestly believe to be real?

This is a bit of an odd question. I'm taking it in the context of characters that feel very real to me as in they've touched me. A lot of people don't like how Katniss from the Hunger Games is, but I honestly relate to her a lot. I thought she was one of the more realistic characters I've read. I could understand her desperation to protect the ones she loves and her stiffness because of her upbringing. But I love how inspirational and compassionate she is. She has a dear place in my heart.

And she's delightfully snarky sometimes.

Nobody borrows my books, or I don’t mind lending them out?

I don't mind lending them out as long as no one beats them up or keeps them too long. I had someone keep them for a long time and they didn't even read them. -_-

Do you ever smell your books?

... Yes. I like new book smell and old book smell.

Not everyone likes books. Is this a positive or a negative?

I think it's a definite negative. Reading is a very important thing for mental and emotional balance. People who read empathize with people more, they have better vocabularies, and memories. Those are just a few of the health benefits. I'm so adamant that people should read that I wrote a whole post about it.

I just love this gif.

I keep my books in the best condition… or maybe not. Which are you?

I do my best to keep my books in good condition, but accidents happen so a few have some bends and stains--though I hate it when that happens.

Gosh, I have too many books! True or false?

I'm actually finally getting the amount of books I own to a less insane level. I'll have read all the novels I own by the end of this year!

Have you ever spilled or stained your books before with something, and if so how?

Like I said before, it's happened. While eating toast once while reading a Nancy Drew book, I dropped butter on it. It never. Comes. Out.

Toned or untoned while reading? In other words, do you read and work out at the same time?

I've never even attempted it. I'm not sure how I could read while working out. Audio books maybe. Reading no.

The Nominations:

Ophelia Leong @ The House Poet

Imogen Elvis @ Gossiping Dragons

Jamie Terry @ Through Two Blue Eyes

Sunny Smith @ A Splash of Ink

Alexa S. Winters @ Summer Snowflakes

What are some of your reading habits? Have you done the D.A.Y. and N.I.G.H.T Reading Tag before? If so, post a link in the comments?

You may also like:

The Bookshelf Tag

The Infinity Dream Award

The Real Neat Blog Award

30 Things You Might Not Have Known About Me

The 777 Writing Challenge

Wednesday, October 28, 2015

Wonderful Word Wednesdays: Apothegm

It's Wonderful Word Wednesday again! Do you as a writer ever struggle finding that perfect word to describe something or you want to shake your writing up with some new words? Each Wednesday I post hand-picked descriptive words for writers and other vocabulary nerds out there. ;)

apothegm

noun

1.) a short, pithy, instructive saying; a terse remark or aphorism.

Example Sentence: Captainess Winifred constantly cuts Mor's sentences shorts with her own apothegms.

Captainess Winifred wears an outfit similar to this.

Have you seen or used this word before? What do you think of it?

Click here for last week's word!

Tuesday, October 27, 2015

Tea Tuesday: Shepherd Book

I'm not really a coffee person. I prefer tea, and I know a lot of fellow writers love tea, too. But have you ever wanted to break out of the Early Grey or English Breakfast norm and try something new? Well, let me help you find some cool new teas! If you need a little hot and flavorful boost to help you reach your writing goal or you're just a lover of tea or you'd like to try some tea but aren't fond of the stereotypical types, these Tea Tuesday posts are for you.

This weeks tea is ...

*drum roll*

Shephard Book

How I found it: I'm back with another fandom set from Adagio Teas. I decided to mix it up this month and get teas that are from two different fandoms. Whaaaaaaaaaaat? I have the last four Firefly Teas from Adagio Teas: Wash, Kaylee, Shepherd Book, and Simon Tam. Then the last tea will be Patched aka the Nick Fury blend from the Avengers set. Don't miss out on the other teas I've reviewed from these sets! Firefly: Serenitea, Captain Mal, Inara, Zoe, Jayne, and River Tam. Hero's Recovery (the Avengers): Exiled, Playboy, Stars & Stripes, Mean & Green, Double Agent, and Sharp Shooter.

This is the same site I bought the Avengers set,Sherlock set, Tolkien set, Avatar: the Last Airbender set, Doctor Who set, Attack on Titan set, RWBY set, Divergent set, Firefly, and Fruits Basket set from!

The Tea: To be honest I was a bit skeptical about this tea. I am picky with lemongrass so I was dreading I wouldn't like it. I'm happy to report it's quite the opposite! Shepherd Book's tea tastes like a lemon blueberry scone. It's a perfect marriage of the two flavors. The Berry Blues tea reminds me of the good Shepherd's blue clothing he wears. The Rooibos lemon cloud, lemon grass, and lemon balm remind me of his sunny, kind, and wise disposition. The hint of aniseed alludes to his mysterious past. Overall this is a perfect blend for our favorite Firefly preacher. I could definitely see Shepherd Book drinking this tea while reading some of the Word.

This line made me laugh more than any other in the show.

Serving Recommendations: I steeped this tea for five minutes and added just sugar.

How much is it and where can you get it? You can find this tea at the Adagio website. I bought this tea in a sample set which was about $22 including shipping and you get a goodly amount of tea since you only need about a teaspoon per cup. Some of these teas you can buy individually for about $10 a pouch or $4 for a sample tin.

So how good is it? This is a great tea! Perfect for a calming night of reading. I highly recommend it! 4 stars!

Have you tried this tea? What did you think of it? Have you seen Firefly?

Bonus! If you are a first-time Adagio customer I can send you a $5 giftcard! Ask in the comments for details! (This is no joke and no catch I seriously can. It's part of the amazingness of Adagio Teas)

Click here for last week's tea!

Sunday, October 25, 2015

Soundtrack Sundays: Crisis (Black Bullet)

It's Soundtrack Sunday again! The day where I post awesome music to write to or just listen to for pleasure if you're a fellow soundtrack junkie. I've recently finished watching the anime Black Bullet and I really enjoyed it! It has a lot of young characters (as in ten-year-olds) which was cool to see since most of the animes I've seen in a while had teenagers and up. The plot is so interesting and I just love post-apocalyptic animes. The only negative I can say about it is that it does have a lot of heavy swearing, which irritated me.

-_-

I did very much enjoy the soundtrack which is why we're here! It has a lot of techno sounds with deep male vocals. This is probably the most characteristic piece of the anime. It's played in most battle sequences and has a very futuristic vibe. This is perfect for a intense battle scene while writing a science-fiction novel! You can listen to more epic music in my Soundtrack Sundays YouTube playlist.

Have you heard this piece before? What do you think of it? Have you seen Black Bullet?

Click here for last week's Soundtrack Sunday!

Saturday, October 24, 2015

So Your Character is Homeschooled ...

A lot of people have misconceptions about homeschooling since it isn't the most common method of schooling, but for many, like me, this is how we were educated. We're functioning adults. We're not somehow lacking because of homeschooling. And in this post I'm going to debunk a bunch of misconceptions about homeschooling and tell a few facts about homeschoolers for your character building purposes. If you have a character who is homeschooled, this is the post for you.

This is a continuation on my So Your Character is ... Series. The previous installments are: So Your Character is a Hunter ..., So Your Character is a Christian ..., and So Your Character is Adopted ....

1.) They're Not All Shy and Antisocial - Not all homeschoolers are bashful and antisocial. There are public schoolers who are shy, so why are they shy? That's just introverted and extroverted personality types. Homeschoolers are also not antisocial. They may do school at home, but that doesn't mean they never go out. Homeschoolers have meetings and clubs and enroll in sports programs, like any other kid.

2.) They're Not All Uncultured - Just because a kid is homeschooled doesn't mean they don't listen to current music or watch popular movies. They may watch more lesser known shows because they have more time to, but that doesn't mean they don't watch any current movies at all. Growing up I got the latest Disney animated movie for my birthday every year. In fact, some of my public school friends would come over to watch it with me.

3.) There are Many Reasons Why Homeschoolers Don't Public School - Parents choose to homeschool for many reasons whether it be special needs or they want control of their kids schooling or they travel or move a lot or they don't want their kids exposed to sex, drugs, and alcohol at a young age. I have a friend who moved internationally with her family because of her dad being in the military. It would be really tough to keep changing schools that way, so her parents decided to homeschool her to make it easier.

4.) They're not all Christians - Though I know a lot of homeschoolers who are Christians, many are not.

5.) Not All Homeschoolers Live in the Middle of Nowhere - Homeschoolers live in more urban areas just as much as they live in more remote areas.

6.) The Schooling is Similar to Public Schooling but More Flexible - Homeschooling is similar to public schooling as in we had to learn all of the different subjects and do standardized tests every few years so the government knows how we're doing. For us our parents dictated when our school hours are which were usually on the same days as public schoolers but we could do them in much less time. We could double up on school so we could do something special like staying at a friends or going on a vacation in the middle of the school year. This gave me much more time as a kid for art and just playing outside and being a kid.

Some kids do hybrid schooling where they take some classes at a school or co-op and others at home, possibly because the parents are having difficulty getting the kid to learn that particular subject or it's a subject that requires more skill like engineering.

Media that portrayed this right:
There isn't really much media that comes to mind that portrays homeschooling correctly. The only one I can think of is when Billie and Bonnie are homeschooled in the Dragons in Our Midst series so they may keep their powers more easily hidden.

I hope this post helps you better write a homeschooled character and if you're not writing one this may inspire you do so. It can have a lot of advantages and be a nice change to the public school setting. I know I wished there were more books about homeschoolers as a kid.

And if this post didn't convince you about the nature of homeschoolers check out this video:

Are you writing a homeschooled character? Are there any questions I didn't answer? Are you a homeschooler and have a few things to add?

You may also like:

So Your Character is from the South ...

So Your Character is a Hunter ...

So Your Character is a Christian ...

So Your Character is Adopted ...

Writing Lessons from Anime: Characters

Friday, October 23, 2015

Interview with Sting (Subsapien) 2

Sting (Subsapien)

Me:

Hey, everyone! Today I'm interviewing one of my bad guys from Subsapien Hybrid, the book I talked about last week that I'll be doing for NaNoWriMo. If you'd like to learn a bit about him before reading the interview, check out his bio. Thank you, everyone who submitted questions! If you'd like to get some tips about interviewing characters, I wrote a post all about it!

*turns to Sting* Hey, Sting. Are you ready to be interviewed?

Sting:

*sitting in a chair next to me like a late night talk show and sucking on a honey stick* Uh duh that's why I'm here. It's about time you interviewed me again. All the goody-goodies have been getting the attention.

Me:

Nzelt isn't a goody-goody.

Sting:

Well I don't know him so he doesn't count. *sucks honey out of the plastic stick loud and obnoxiously*

Me:

*sighs* Whatever. On to the first question. It's from Cassidy: Does he have a favorite type of honey?

Sting:

Tupelo. It's what's in here. *waggles the honey stick* It doesn't crystallize and it's real sweet.

Me:

Good to know. It's my favorite too. Next question is from Madeline Wright: How does he eat Oreos?

Sting:

I scrape off the cream then throw the cookies at Able's face. Next question.

Me:

You're such a jerk. * -_- *

Sting:

I know. You should too since you wrote me. Next question. I don't got all day. *tosses finished honey stick over his shoulder, takes another one out of his hoodie pocket*

Me:

Fine. Sara Letourneau asks: I'd like to know a little more about the book he uses as a pacifier. What about the story and/or the music does he find soothing?

Sting:

*rips off top of honey stick with his teeth, spits it on the floor*

Me:

You're picking that up later.

Sting:

*ignores me* I don't read and the pictures are stupid, but I like the music. It makes music box noises. Master played it during resting periods when he was fixing me when I was sick.

Me:

Right ... *types on computer* The next three are from Liz Brooks: So, Sting, what's it like having DNA from three separate animals? Do you think it's cool, or would you rather people hadn't tampered with your genetic code? Also, Sting sounds super cool and I'm excited to read his interview.

Sting:

What's "cool" mean again?

Me:

It's what you mean by "crystal."

Sting:

Oh okay. Then course I'm cool. Glad I have a loyal fan. I like havin' different DNA. Makes me special and more useful for my masters. I don't really know how it's different from you humans, but I know I can kill you all much easier than you could kill me. *smiles*

Me:

*facepalm*

Sting:

I guess it's different 'cause my vitals, like, work at different rates and I don't get cuts barely ever 'cause of my thick skin and I really loooooove honey. *sucks honey out of the stick*

Me:

Moving on ... If you could have DNA from any animals of your choice, which would you pick, or would you just stick with the stuff you've got?

Sting:

I like the stuff I've got. Shark graftings have to stay hydrated, gorilla graftings are stupid, chameleon graftings are twits ... You want me to go on?

Me:

*sips from glass of water* I think we got the point. What is your favorite ability, and what is your least favorite ability?

Sting:

*pushes out thumb barb* I like stabbing people and watching them writhe in agony as my venom courses through their systems. *smiles*

Me:

*deadpan* Lovely. Least favorite ability?

Sting:

Oh right. I don't have hair, I have spikes, so I've stabbed myself sometimes ... But I've also stabbed other people by headbutting them so that makes up for it.

Me:

*shakes head* Rebekah Hendrian wants to know: What does he do for fun (or does he do anything for fun)?

Sting:

I do lots of things for fun. *counts on fingers with honey stick in the corner of his mouth* I stab people, I play video games, I stab people, I kick Able, I stab people, I watch crime shows, I stab people, I torture people, and I listen to my book play. Did I mention that I stab people?

Me:

Yes, four times.

Sting:

Glad I got it covered thoroughly.

Me:

Geez. Here's another question from Liz Brooks: Who is your favorite person?

Sting:

Master Jeth. Duh. He's my master.

Me:

Should have known that. The next one is from Amy Covel: What is it that makes you and Serra good friends?

Sting:

She annoys me less than other people. Next!

Me:

*sighs* Liz Brooks asks: Who is your least favorite person?

Sting:

Bryce or Matt. They keep running away when I try to stab them then the Masters get mad at me when I don't catch them. Next!

Me:

Sara Letourneau wants to know: Also, why does he feel the need to pick on Able even though they're working toward the same goals?

Sting:

Because he's an annoying, attention-hogging little twit and I'm better than him even if the Masters don't think so. Just because he has five billion abilities doesn't mean he's better than me. *jabs thumb into his chest* He's a softy!

Me:

Okay. Calm down, Sting.

Sting:

I hate him.

Me:

I think we gathered. Madeline Wright says: How does he define success?

Sting:

When the Masters are happy with my work. Next!

Me:

Okay. Next one is from Amy Covel: Oh this little bundle of joy. Perfect for Halloween indeed. Sting, what is your greatest fear?

Sting:

I am a bundle a joy and my biggest fear is displeasing my masters. Moving on.

Me:

Rebeckah Hendrian and Amy Covel both ask: What does Sting want most out of life (other than to feel loved, I mean more like goals)? What do you consider an ideal life (I know you want love more than anything)?

Sting:

I want a motorcycle and I've got my own room and I got my ears and my chin pierced like I wanted and I get nice food and I get to wear what I want and I work for the masters and they're pretty happy with me, so my life is pretty fine right now. I just want to keep making them pleased.

Me:

*nods, types on my computer* We're almost to the end. This is the second to last question from Rebekah Hendrian: Does he ever wonder about how he ended up where he is?

Sting:

I know how I ended up where I was. I asked after I got promoted. My mom tried to kill me before I was born because she got pregnant when she didn't want to. So she got rid of me and the Masters saved me. I was a problem so she threw me out. Happens a lot. Happened to Able too. *shrugs, sucks on his honey stick slower* Least I didn't cry about it like a little baby like he did when he found out. *rolls eyes*

Me:

*sighs* Last question.

Sting:

Finally.

Me:

Rawls E. asks: Does he ever stop and consider that his purpose in life could be more than the scientists' lapdog? That the world is a big place and he could explore a new way of life? Or maybe he can't break away from the scientists he considers as parents?

Sting:

My masters are like my parents. Like I said my real ones tried to murder me. They think they did. So screw them. I'm done with this interview. I thought we'd talk about more stabbing. *gets up*

Me:

You didn't answer the other part of the question.

Sting:

I covered it before. Bye! *heads out the door, takes my glass of water on the way out*

Me:

Hey!

Sting:

*ignores me*

Me:

He's fine, readers. He'll be back to his sadistic self in no time ... too soon probably ... Thank you all again for the great questions! These really help me get to know my characters. If you'd like to check out more about Sting's book take a look at this month's Beautiful Books post! The next two months will feature Beautiful Books posts from his book as well. If you haven't gotten enough Sting check out his first interview and lastly, next month features another character from Subsapien. This one I haven't interviewed before. His name's Nox and I'm so excited to introduce you all to him! Thanks for reading and Happy Halloween!